CELSUS, [Aulus Aurelius] Cornelius.

De Medicina.

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[196] leaves, the last a blank, 34 lines & a headline. Roman type. Initial spaces with guide letters. Foliated in an early hand (now cropped), a few early MS. marginalia (faint, owing to washing and restoration in the 19th century). Minor worming in first and last few leaves, single small wormhole in last few gatherings, short tear in inner margin of s5, a few small marks and some very faint residual stains. Small folio (270 x 191 mm.), red straight-grained morocco by Charles Lewis ca. 1830 (spine faded, one corner slightly bumped), a.e.g. [Colophon]: Florence: Nicolaus [Laurentius], 1478. Editio Princeps. The De Medicina was the first organized treatise on medicine to be printed, and the first Western history of medicine. Written in about A.D. 30, it remains the greatest medical treatise from ancient Rome. Celsus’ fine literary style earned him the title of Cicero medicorum, his Latin terminology creating a nomenclature that is still in use today. His work is in eight books, the first four of which deal with diseases treated by diet and regimen, the last four describing those amenable to drugs and surgery. The third book contains, among other things, the first use of the term ‘insanity’ (Insania), and the first adumbration of heart disease (Cardiacus), which became the canon of subsequent knowledge in antiquity. The fourth book contains the four classical signs of inflammation. The fifth book begins with a classified list of drugs, followed by a chapter on weights and measures, pharmaceutical methods, and prescriptions. The sixth book treats skin and venereal diseases, as well as those of the eye, ear, nose, throat and mouth. The seventh book is surgical (see Garrison, History of Medicine, pp. 107–109). There are numerous important contributions to dentistry, and a classic description of malaria (Major, p. 96). The surgical chapters contain the first account of the use of the ligature, excellent descriptions of lateral lithotomy and herniotomy, and the earliest discussion in Western literature of the repair of mutilations, including plastic operations for restoring the nose, lips, ears, etc. (Zeis Index 21 and 2116; “certainly the earliest writer on plastic surgery,” p. 1). Celsus’ text was virtually unknown in the Middle Ages, as the manuscript was lost until its rediscovery in 1426 in Siena. Nevertheless it became a standard text for centuries. It was edited for publication, as such among the earliest medical books to be printed, by Bartolomeo Fonzio. The book is constructed of both quarto and folio gatherings. This copy has the headline on O5r correctly reading “Quintus”, “BARTHOLOMEVS” on ð1b, and gg1 signed. Early in the past century the De Medicina was not an uncommon book, but this (very nice) copy and the (not very nice) Norman copy are the only complete examples to have appeared for public sale in the last 50 years; the three other copies during that period all had leaves lacking or inserted. A fine copy from the library of Beriah Botfield (1807-63), his sale Christie’s London, 30 March 1994, lot 11. Preserved in a morocco box. ❧ Dibner, Heralds of Science, 119. Garrison-Morton 20, 3666.81 (dentistry), 5548.1 (surgery), 5733.50 (plastic surgery), and 6375 (history of medicine). Goff C-364. Grolier Club, One Hundred Books Famous in Medicine, 4. Klebs 260.1. Osler, Incunabula Medica, 147 and pp. 16–17 (“a gem of the first water”). Osler 286. Stillwell, The Awakening Interest in Science, 331.

• USD 150,000.00 > Andere Währungen
• Bestellnummer: HillBibl-1423

• Antiquariat: Jonathan A. Hill, Bookseller, Inc. (USA)